Sport’s highest tribunal on Thursday rejected Russia’s appeal against a doping ban for its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics starting in 15 days’ time, drawing swift and angry condemnation from Moscow. The decision by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) increases the possibility that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will now exclude Russia from all sports, not just track and field, in Rio de Janeiro.
I’m glad they didn’t ban the entire Russian contingent. Yes, there should be fines and stripping of prior medals and so on, but I don’t like seeing athletes banned from competing because they just happen to be from the same country as some cheaters. Test 'em all thoroughly and independently, but let 'em play.
Stress tests – which should have been done months ago – are still
less than halfway complete because the 17-storey buildings were
delivered behind schedule and the water, gas and electricity were only
recently connected.
Although Rio2016 said the faults affected only 5% of the rooms,
spokesman Mário Andrada admitted only 12 of the 31 tower blocks have
been checked and proved OK.
“This should have been tested a long time ago,” he told the Guardian.
“But the problem is there and now our task is to fix it as quickly as
possible and to ensure everything is safe.”
The risks were evident on Saturday when a small fire broke out in building 26, which is the home of the Dutch team.
“A technician was working on a fuse box. There was a short circuit
and a small fire, which he extinguished himself. The electricity was
disconnected and there was no need for an evacuation or to call
firefighters,” Andrada said. Nonetheless, with continued reports of gas leaks in the Athletes Village, such incidents are a concern.
Meh. About this time (two weeks prior) before ANY Olympic Games start you can turn on practically any network and see the same stories. I recall a story about none of the athlete dorms in Russia having installed toilets one week before the opening ceremonies. It all works out before the starting whistles.
Sochi’s infrastructure and housing was a disaster not just 2 weeks before their games but during and after as well. Provoked a whole new doomed and futile anti-corruption effort fueled mainly by Putin’s rage.
“Commercial entities may not post about the Trials or Games on their
corporate social media accounts,” Baird writes, apparently in earnest.
“This restriction includes the use of USOC’s trademarks in hashtags such
as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA.”
Even if you can protect your trademarks in hashtag form, anyone who wants could just use #Rio and #2016 separately. One’s a city, the other is a year. Suck it, IOC.
